This season isn't exactly popular in introducing a lot of cool shows (like Spring and Autumn), however, among the crap, there's usually several rare gems in the Summer season (Heck, Baccano! was a summer series!) so I'm checking them out to find myself some from this year. But before that:According to ANN, the Nabari no Ou manga will end in volume 14.... so that's one volume to go. And it means I need to catch up on this already.... hehehehehehe.I love this manga but the recent events are jsut so.... whut. My only concern is Koichi x Raimei, and if my OTP isn't going to happen in the end, I will be depressed ;_; OH COME ON!!! IT'S NOT THAT OFTEN FOR ME TO BEG FOR A LOVE STORY SO MAKE THEM CANON DAMNIT!!!!Now, the next two Summer 2010 series that I've checked out so far:[ Nurarihyon no Mago ] the more youkai the better~[ Shiki ] the more corpses the better~[ Nurarihyon no Mago ](MY GODDESS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!)I am pleased with how the anime turned out but I NEED to complain about this: WHY IS KANA THE EMPHASIZED LEADING LADY????Ugh, FINE, maybe this is just my <bias></bias>, BUT YUKI ONNA IS THE LEADING LADY OF THIS SERIES TO ME!!!!! She has a BIGGER role compare to Kana, more screentime even, more involvement in the arcs naturally, AND SHE HAS PROTECTED HIM AS OFTEN AS RIKUO PROTECTED HER. THAT'S WHAT THE SHOUNEN LEADING LADY SHOULD BE AND NOT SOME DAMSEL-IN-DISTRESS TEREOTYPE GROAR!I don't really hate Kana (even if she's sooooooooooo useless; it's obvious in the OP and ED that she doesn't have anything cool to show, aside from her prettiness... whut duh), but if she's gonna be getting more special treatment compare to my goddess, I MUST RANT!!!!!!!!Yuki Onna >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Kanna.ANIME, STOP SHIPPING RIKUO x KANA!!!! IT HURTS MY EYES!!!!!!! (Yeah, I hate that freakin' pairing but that doesn't mean I hate the shippers)And the ED.... oh gawd. It's cute, but KANA IS IN THE MIDDLE!!!! Middle person is the special one so BLEGH! YOU SHOULD SWITCH PLACES WITH YUKI ONNA DAMNIT!!!! GO AWAY!!! SHOOOOO!!!! MY GODDESS IS BETTER THAN YOU IN EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!I feel stupid for being bothered with little things but.... uuuggghh.... I still want to rant: GO DISAPPEAR KANA!!! I WANT MORE OF MY GODDESS DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!! xD(ME LOVES YOUKAI!RIKUO~)*ehem* Okay, back to the show. So the anime adaptation of one of the few mainstream shounen manga that I still follow currently has finally aired. It made a lot of changes from how the manga started and was narrated. It's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Some changes didn't seem appropriate for me because it hadn't been that clear on how rare it was for Rikuo to switch to his youkai form unless you're familiar with the manga. Yes, it was mentioned in the anime, but since the anime features youkai!Rikuo from the very beginning, it didn't feel like it x_x I also think it would have been better if the events of what happened 4 years ago had been shown in the first episode (doesn't have to be the whole story. Even just shorten it or just show the important scenes). I think it'll be easier to understand the series with that.On the bright side, it doesn't seem that the anime will show much of the school-related arcs because Gyuki's case has been featured as early as episode 1. In other words, it looks like the anime's going to focus on the main arcs, and not much on the "filler/school" arcs.... which is a BIG RELIEF to me!!!! Most of its flaws are presented in those dull arcs (even if they're veyr comedic). Hopefully the news of it being just 20+ episodes isn't true. I want the series to catch up on the recent arc~ (PUH-LEAZE NO ANIME ORIGINAL WITH A RIKUO x KANA ENDING! MY HEAD WILL HURT SO BAD!)And... hahaha! Since Rikuo is another Jun Fukuyama character, our leading guy sounds like a Lelouch. He uses the same voice when it comes to the "normal/loser" type and the "cool/dark" type. Hehe.The animation's good. No background music caught my attention though, but as for the OP and ED themes..... well, ED is cute (Rikuo and his harem, LOLz) but the OP.... the visuals are okay but that.... song.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzI love this series but I think I'll only prioritize episodes with lots of Yuki Onna or less Kana and the school friends (I love you Kakihara Tetsuya but the character you're playing here is..... not that interesting). Hahahahahha! *so biased*[ Shiki] (COOLEST OP IN THE SEASON SO FAR~)I am sooooooooooooo pleased that the anime staff for this series does know how to present horror stories. It's eerie and creepy, despite the colorful (even awkward for a horror theme) character designs. I also looooove how it presents its story telling and how it executes the intense scenes. It gives off a mystery feeling yet a little spooky. Sweet~ And the music! Not just the OP and ED, the background tracks fit the series sooo much~ It's beautiful~ And of course, the animation has been good. Aniplex hasn't disappointed me ever.(THE ED HAS A BUTTERFLY!!!! And I've read "Hyper Voice" in the credits, LOLz xD)I've noticed that many have disliked the characters in the series. I'm not surprised.... I didn't like them at all when I read the first few chapters of the manga either. It makes it seem to me that they're not intended to be likeable in the first place...... Then, that means the mangaka had been successful on that?! If that's really the case, then that's impressive. You don't often encounter series that have characters that don't try hard to be as cool and as likeable as possible (those who try to be such usually result to stereotypes if the creator fails in thinking of something creative). I believe a good story can make up for annoying characters; and I think that had been the case with Shiki because I ended up liking some characters because of their role in the story later even if they hadn't been that appealing in the beginning.I think the most annoying character that had debuted on the first episode is Megumi. Yeah, I was also annoyed with her. Her constant rants about the village made my head hurt so much. But now I've realized that I could actually appreciate her. Perhaps it's because... I can somehow relate to her.You see, I'm also.... a city girl xD I can't stay long on the countryside..... and I might've been ranting on a similar way like she is if I live in such a place. I'm not interested in trees and nature.... I prefer technology and gaining access to what's the latest. Don't tell me there aren't other people who feel the same way.Another thing that I find myself in her is that: what she wants is different from what the rest likes and she's considered odd for it. I TOTALLY KNOW THE FEELING. I'm already in a similar situation just recently.... apparently my crowd is more interested on the movie about a love story with extremely mushy leading characters and the movie that isn't really so bad if only it didn't sound like a fantasy adventure cliche, while I am the only one who desperately wants to see a certain psychological thriller with a very inventive storyline and fantastic out-of-this-world action scenes. So my point is, it's VERY frustrating to be considered weird when what you think is cool isn't the same as what the majority thinks as cool. Blegh. I believe there are others who have had this feeling, right? If yes, then Megumi is feeling the same way you as you do. If you have a similar frustration, whether you show it openly or not, and yet is annoyed with Megumi, it only shows that you don't like your frustrated self either. Negative reactions to characters whose traits are actually similar to your self.... whoaSo, these thoughts on Megumi made me realize that though these characters are annoying, they posses traits that you could actually relate to or can be compared to real people. It sucks, but they're real. I find it awesome in that sense. So in other words, they may appear to be very annoying on the surface but once you analyze and look deeper into their personalities, it turns out that they can actually be appreciated or at least they show that people like such exist in the real world despite it being a fictional series (because for some reason there are characters that are unbelievably annoying. Come on, you know what I mean.)Overall, this series is very impressive. There is beauty in its ugliness. Don't underestimate it. Go on even if you got annoyed, because it's very incredible. Weird, huh?Ah well, aside frm the good plot and characterizations and so on, I also have my bias to this series. YESH, IT'S MY BEST FRIEND PAIRS IN THIS SERIES!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE xD If they'll be having some moments in the anime that weren't in the manga, then I might tune in to the anime *has decided to focus on the manga because it's more recent but... but...*
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